Delhi High Court Orders Revision Of CLAT 2025 Merit List Following Answer Key Dispute

The Delhi High Court has directed the Consortium of National Law Universities (NLU) to revise the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2025 merit list, originally published on 7 December 2024. The order follows a writ petition challenging the final answer key and alleging discrepancies in the evaluation process.

The petitioner contested the provisional answer key for questions 14, 37, 67, 68, 89, 99, 100, and 102 in Set-A of the question paper. Objections raised for questions 89, 99, and 102 were upheld by an Expert Committee, leading to changes in the final answer key. Despite this, the petitioner sought further corrections, specifically in questions 14, 37, 67, 68, and 100, and filed a representation on 9 December 2024 detailing discrepancies and errors in the evaluation.

The court agreed with the petitioner on question 14, confirming option ‘C’ as the correct answer in alignment with the Expert Committee's findings. Marks for this question will now be awarded to all candidates who selected option ‘C’. For question 100, the court endorsed the Expert Committee's recommendation to exclude the question entirely, necessitating a revision of the results.

The petitioner also highlighted the NLU’s notification issued alongside the final answer key, which announced the establishment of a Grievance Redressal Committee to address candidate concerns.

In response to the court’s order, the Consortium stated that it is consulting legal experts to decide the next steps. The release of the first admission list, initially scheduled for 26 December 2024, will be delayed. “We acknowledge the uncertainty caused by this development and remain committed to transparency and fairness in the admission process,” the Consortium assured.

The revision of the merit list and the admission schedule is expected to impact candidates across the country, with the Consortium pledging to expedite the process to minimise disruption.